Reviewing The Gambler 500 2019

  6/29/2019 It is was my second year in a row traversing Central Oregon with my cousin in the Gambler 500 OG 2019. In our first year we drive my cousins Ford Ranger with a roof top tent around the mountains in a caravan of "Gamblers" he knew from mechanic school. As you would expect from Gamblers, they are not good hill climbers. Our of the 2 hills we attempted our ranger was the only one able to reach the top.
   This year however I drove while he navigated and I brought my family's 1999, 320,000 mile Chevy Cavalier.

The Green machine has not done trips farther then 20 miles at a time in years. Now we asked her to take us on a round trip, up mountains, and off road, 900 miles. Accompanying us was my other cousin and his nephew in his 1984 Ford Ranger.

The Ranger again is supposed to be our recovery vehicle.
  After a late start and barely making it to our first checkpoint before closing time we reach Conversion Brewing.

At Conversion Brewing the had the "Waypoints" for this years Gambler.

At this point it was 9:30-10 o'clock and we where tired from the long day of traveling and breaking down. only once did we stall on the interstate, both of us, where the Green Machine started back up and the Ranger did not. You see the Cavalier has an over heating issue due to the radiator fan not kicking on which stop and go traffic it does not like. Where the Ranger which is an 84 is carbonated (fuel injection came to the Ranger in 86) so it vapor locks. Middle lane I5, my car stalls, I freak out, get it started, and hurry off embarrassed. 2 miles down the road in stop and go traffic we get a call that the ranger stalled out too. Only they could not get it started again. well we are 2 exits away now. we find an O'reilly's and go and buy a new battery for it only to find out they got it started and are coming to meet us.

Anyways... After getting to the brewery and getting the waypoints we just decide to get to a camp site and sleep. If only that where as easy to do as it was to type. Crappy GPS's, overheating cars, and pitch darkness. The transmission in the green machine was clunking and sounding gross, it wasn't liking climbing hills. eventually we find a campsite and set up at like 11 pm.

Stinky feet and condensation is what we found in the morning. Also 2 still working cars. We had to jet because we did not register or pay to use the campsite as there was no one to register with the night before.

Probably not gonna finish this now so I'm just gonna publish it here.